The recently controversial photo-sharing network revealed its top 10 most popular locations for 2012, according to geotags, in a blog post released Thursday.

The list is likely to surprise many. But if you've ever spent time refreshing Instagram's "Explore" tab at night and been perplexed by a propensity of photos from Thailand, it starts to make sense.

Despite Bangkok's domination, locations in the United States take seven of the next eight spots with the lone exception being the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Sports venues and the Los Angeles area are also represented particularly well. Here's the entire top 10 as shared by Instagram:

Suvarnabhumi Airport - Bangkok, Thailand

Siam Paragon shopping mall - Bangkok, Thailand

Disneyland Park - Anaheim, Calif.

Times Square - New York, N.Y.

AT&T Park - San Francisco, Calif.

Los Angeles International Airport - Los Angeles, Calif.

Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.

Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

Staples Center - Los Angeles, Calif.

Santa Monica Pier - Los Angeles, Calif.

If Instagram can continue to gain users at an astronomical rate following this month's terms of service fiasco, this list could look quite a bit different at the end of 2013. This was truly the year of Instagram — with explosive growth, a true entrance into the cultural mainstream and a massive acquisition by Facebook.

What will next year's top geolocation list look like? Let us know in the comments.

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